1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a terminal arrangement of an AC generator for a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a vehicle AC generator, terminal members connecting the leads of an armature winding and a rectifier unit are exposed to strong vibration. Because the armature winding and the rectifier unit are located separately, they are vibrated at different vibration frequencies and vibration phases, resulting in that terminal members may be deformed or broken due to strong stress applied thereon.
If the leads and the rectifier unit are connected by welding, it is necessary to prevent the welding heat from transferring to the rectifier unit which includes positive and negative diodes and a connection member for connecting the positive and negative diodes.
GB 2235822 discloses a plurality of metal terminal members for connecting leads of an alternator armature winding and diodes of a rectifier unit. The metal terminal member is a slender metal plate which has a U-shaped crimped edge for tightly grasping the connecting leads. That is, the terminal member has a notch in the sense of the notch effect between the plate portion and the U-shaped edge, and the edge may be broken due to strong vibration.